First off, thanks to Shatz for asking me to fill in for a minute around these parts, and thanks to Twitter (Follow me @the_amt!) for bringing fans and bloggers together. Cue the cheesy wink.

Since Shatz asked me to guest-blog last week, I've been trying to think of a topic to cover, but most of them just caused me mental and/or emotional pain.

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It's a busy weekend of futbol, as the MLS Conference Finals take place and the final places in the 2010 FIFA World Cup will begin to become more clear. CONCACAF 4th placers Costa Rica will host Uruguay tomorrow night, and the first leg of the UEFA playoffs will take place. The U.S. National Team, complete with our captain Jimmy Conrad, will play Slovakia tomorrow morning at 9 a. Click to continue reading...

Plenty of other soccer on TV in addition to tonight's Galaxy-Dynamo game, while local colleges enter post-season play this weekend.

TV best bets
11 o'clock tonight Fox Soccer Channel New Zealand-Bahrain (World Cup qualifier with former Galaxy man Simon Elliot on the NZ squad).

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by TRAVIS CLARK

One game, everything to play for. When tonight's World Cup playoff between Bahrain and New Zealand (2am, FSC) kicks off, the winner claims a spot in South Africa, while the loser faces the prospect of missing the tournament once again.

Neither side is a prominent soccer nation, yet the underlying feeling is that the winning nation's program would receive a much-needed shot in the arm.

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I've always said that one of the realistic options for the disaffected USL owners was to leave and then just setup their own league away from the USL umbrella. Today, that appears to be what has happened, with everyone bailing on Francisco Marcos and the USL. I have not been following this all that closely, but where does this leave Portland, who has one more year to go before they join MLS. Click to continue reading...

Starting this weekend, the final slots for the 2010 World Cup will be decided around the world. So, let's have a bit of fun with the playoffs.
Today until Saturday, entries are open for picks for the first leg of the CONCACAF/COMNEBOL and UEFA first legs and for the AFC/OFC second leg. We'll pick the CONCACAF/COMNEBOL and UEFA second legs starting on Sunday or Monday. Click to continue reading...

This morning when I woke up and checked my email, my eyes nearly popped out of their sockets (think the 1:06 mark of this classic clip) when I read the U.S. Soccer Federation missive about the roster for the upcoming USMNT friendly against Slovakia. (Saturday, 10 a.m., FSC)As the old saying goes, don't blog angry, so I took a little time to collect myself and my shock that Edgar Castillo, et al, Click to continue reading...

Conrad after the Costa Rica match. Photo courtesy of Andy Mead/Yellow Card Journalism.
Jimmy Conrad has been named to the US National Team for the third time this season, after first joining the team for the CONCACAF Gold Cup then re-joining for the final two World Cup qualifiers of the hexagonal. Click to continue reading...

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The U.S. national team's friendly vs. Slovakia in Bratislava later this month will air live on Fox Soccer Channel.

U.S. Soccer announced via its Twitter Wednesday that the U.S. team's first of two European friendlies will air live at 10am on FSC on Nov. 14. No word yet on what station will air the U.

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The U.S. national team's friendly vs. Slovakia in Bratislava later this month will air live on Fox Soccer Channel.

U.S. Soccer announced via its Twitter Wednesday that the U.S. team's first of two European friendlies will air live at 10am on FSC on Nov. 14. No word yet on what station will air the U.

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Attackers Davy Arnaud and Claudio Lopez are both up twice for the AT&T Goal of the Year award. Davy is nominated for his long-range, left-footed bomb in Week 1 and a give-and-go and give-and-go effort in Week 13. Lopez is up for his free kick in Week 10 and his past-the-halfline bomb in Week 19. Click to continue reading...

If you haven't heard, some soccer on TV ratings came out yesterday. FSC, America's preeminent all-soccer broadcaster, became Nielsen-rated just about a year ago. Since then, the network's ratings...

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Fox Soccer Channel today put out a press release on the growth of its ratings numbers over the past year, its first as a Nielsen-rated channel.

Among reports of increases in Serie A and English Premiership viewers, the statement also points out that "Major League Soccer audiences are up 89%, averaging 51,000 viewers last month vs.

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The MLS playoffs continue tonight with Columbus traveling to Sandy, Utah to take on Real Salt Lake in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference Semifinal series (6 p.m. Direct Kick). If Real Salt Lake is to have any chance against the regular season champion Crew they need a result tonight -- as they typically struggle mightily on the road. Click to continue reading...

Six teams, two playoff berths. We'll keep the standings atop the post and update them with final results. Standings include opponent, goal difference (for/against), and tiebreakers. All times ET

40 Colorado: +7 (42/35), even on tiebreakers
39 Toronto: -4 (37/41), beats NE and DC, loses to DAL
39 D. Click to continue reading...

With two playoff spots remaining and six teams in the hunt, things could get a little dicey in MLS this weekend.

Colorado (40 points) is the only team that controls its own destiny and if they get a win at Real Salt Lake tonight (9 p.m. on FSC) they will clinch the 3rd or 4th seed in the Eastern Conference.

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The Houston Dynamo's second foray into the CONCACAF Champions League has left their quarterfinal chances to the very last matchday -- with their fate in some other club's hands. And unlike yesterday's matches involving MLS squads, the Dynamo must get three points in El Salvador against Isidro Metapan (10pm, FSC) in order to have any hope of finishing second in Group A.

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***Spoiler Alert***
Man United scored a late one through Antonio Valencia to beat CSKA Moscow 1-0 in Russia. The rest of today's matches, including Kaka's return to AC Milan with Real Madrid are taking place right now. If you can find a TV, tune it to Fox Soccer Channel or the sports section on DirecTV. Click to continue reading...

Stew "The Brew" Holden was all up on Fox Football Fone-In this week and Nicky Webster pointed out that Stuart is striking the ball in a manner that he describes as Beckham-esque. Also Waldo said that he thinks this is Stuart's year and he told him so on Facebook.
(Pause for internal analysis of that last sentence and what it says about where we are as a society and how the nature of person-to-person communication has changed. Click to continue reading...

Miles and Barton in the Studio

As Fox Soccer Channel's Nick Webster told me, "Americans have more access to soccer from around the world than in any other country on earth." That is undoubtedly true. On any given weekend, you can flip around the dial and find the EPL, Serie A, La Liga, the MLS, the Bundesliga, the Mexican leagues, French Ligue 1 and an odd assortment of other broadcasts from around the world, not to mention the weekday Champions league games.

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Do you have a question for The Don? Do you also have a desire to have your voice heard on live television? Yes? OK. Then read and remember this. I will not be calling in but instead I will be on my couch with a bottle of Glenmorangie taking a drink every time a caller mentions single table, changing the schedule, expansion, raising the salary cap and "saving MLS". Click to continue reading...

The UEFA Champions League has kicked off with some crazy early scores as Barcelona and Inter Milan both fell behind in the opening moments. Ives is doing a running commentary at SBI, or you can watch the games yourself on Fox Soccer Channel (or their auxiliary channels on DirecTV). If neither of those works for you, check out the live scores at Soccernet. Click to continue reading...

Two must-win games are on the slate tonight for MLS teams still involved in the CONCACAF Champions League. D.C. United is in Mexico, and takes on Toluca down in Mexico (8pm, FSC/Telefutura). Meanwhile in Puerto Rico, the Crew are out to ensure their passage to the third round (2am, FSC).

It's been a dramatic turnaround for the Black-and-Red in Group B.

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The UEFA Champions League returns to action today with eight matches that will go a long way in clarifying the picture as team's battle for position mid-way through the group stage.

Liverpool is in crisis mode and needs a win against Lyon today to stop the bleeding and establish itself as a team capable of advancing out of its group.

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After not winning any Champions League games last year, United has won three in a row to give itself a chance to advance to the quarterfinal round of the tournament. It will be a difficult task though - United must try to get a win in Mexico, a feat never accomplished by an MLS team.

And Toluca will not make it easy.

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2:45pm, live in the US on Comcast Sports Northeast and MSG. The game is on Fox Sports regional networks. I've got DirecTV, and the game is on channels 630 or 635. And it's in HD! I wish I could be more help to those with cable. At the least, it's delayed on FSC at 10pm.
Last 3 matches:
Liverpool: 0-1 Sunderland (a); 0-2 Chelsea (a); 0-2 Fiorentina (a)
Lyon: 0-2 Sochaux (h); 2-0 Lens (a); 4-0 Debrecen (a)
Group Stage:
Liverpool: 0-2 Fiorentina (a); 1-0 Debrecen (h)
Lyon: 4-0 Debrecen (a); 1-0 Fiorentina (h)
Referee: Alberto Undiano Mallenco (SPA)
Guess at a squad:
Reina
Johnson Carragher Agger Insua
Lucas Mascherano
Benayoun Gerrard Riera
Kuyt
Yes on Gerrard, No on Torres. Click to continue reading...

Just happened to catch Keith Costigan, Warren Burton, and Chris Miles this Sunday talk about the economic import of the 2010 World Cup. This complex issue got about two minutes.

First, none of the three really work on this particular aspect of the sport. And it showed. There were banalities - it is good for the host country and the fans of the qualifying countries who go to pubs to see matches, boost the local economy.

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Goal.com's Subhankar Mondal gives his take on the three huge matches in the Italian top flight this weekend.....
Juventus vs. Fiorentina
Saturday at Noon (Live on FSC)
Genoa vs. Inter
Saturday at 2:45pm EDT
(Tape-Delay at 11:30pm on FSC)
Milan vs. Click to continue reading...

For American fans of the English Premier League, there will be several quality matches televised, thanks in part to ESPN2's coverage this season.

Saturday, October 17

7:45am - Aston Villa v Chelsea (ESPN2)
10:00am - Sunderland v Liverpool (FSC)

Sunday, October 18

11:00am - Wigan v Manchester City (FSC)

These games will be shown live.

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Fox Soccer Channel will be televising the Liverpool against Manchester United game scheduled for October 25 at 10am ET.

Up until now, we weren't sure whether Setanta Sports or Fox Soccer Channel would show the game, but the game is now listed on Fox Soccer Channel's TV schedule. Following the game, FSC will show West Ham United versus Arsenal at Noon ET.

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Several of the unclaimed World Cup qualifying berths will be locked on Wednesday as qualifying around the world wraps up group play.

There will be plenty of TV viewing options, though some of the more important matches of the day may require some web surfing for video streams. Among those is the winner-take-all match between Argentina and Uruguay, as well as the Honduras-El Salvador qualifier.

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Several of the unclaimed World Cup qualifying berths will be locked on Wednesday as qualifying around the world wraps up group play.

There will be plenty of TV viewing options, though some of the more important matches of the day may require some web surfing for video streams. Among those is the winner-take-all match between Argentina and Uruguay, as well as the Honduras-El Salvador qualifier.

Click to continue reading...

LES ÉQUIPES PROBABLES

FRANCE: Mandanda - Sagna, Gallas, Abidal, Evra - Govou, L. Diarra, Toulalan, Henry (cap.) - Anelka, Gignac
ILES FÉROÉ: Mikkelsen - Danielsen, Gregersen, Eliasen, Davidsen - A. Olsen, S. Olsen, Benjaminsen, Loekin - Jakobsen - Hansen

I was willing to bet my house yesterday that we'd be playing two DMs, and guess what?

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Two massive CONCACAF Champions League matches loom tonight for the remaining two MLS squads in the competition. D.C., in need of a win to boost their chances of making a rather unlikely quarterfinal bid, face lowly San Juan Jabloteh (8pm, FSC) of Trinidad & Tobago who have yet to win in the competition.

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Two massive CONCACAF Champions League matches loom tonight for the remaining two MLS squads in the competition. D.C., in need of a win to boost their chances of making a rather unlikely quarterfinal bid, face lowly San Juan Jabloteh (8pm, FSC) of Trinidad & Tobago who have yet to win in the competition.

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